SpaceX postpones Starship test flight
After a spectacular explosion during the first test flight, SpaceX is once again venturing to launch its giant Starship rocket. Technical problems have forced the space company to postpone the launch, but a new date has already been set. Meanwhile, activists are warning against the launch attempt.
The second test of the largest rocket system ever built in the history of space travel is now to take place on Saturday after all. A drive unit on a control surface still needs to be replaced, Elon Musk wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "That's why the launch has been postponed to Saturday".
A 20-minute launch window is scheduled to open at 2 p.m. CET on Saturday, SpaceX announced shortly afterwards. The second launch attempt had previously been announced for Friday. The rocket is to orbit the Earth almost completely and then land in the Pacific off Hawaii.
Starship is the most powerful rocket ever built in the world and, with a height of 120 meters, the largest. It is designed to make space missions more cost-effective thanks to the reusability of its two stages.
Detonation just minutes after the first launch
However, the first test flight on April 20 at the SpaceX spaceport Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, failed spectacularly. Starship went into a spin when several engines failed and the rocket's first stage did not separate from the second stage. SpaceX therefore detonated the rocket in mid-air four minutes after its launch. It burst into a fireball, the ash cloud of which was blown as far as a town several kilometers away.
SpaceX had to make various revisions as a result. On Wednesday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave SpaceX the green light for a second launch attempt. The company has now "met all required criteria, particularly with respect to safety, environmental and financial responsibility", the US Federal Aviation Administration stated.
Concerns about environmental damage
Environmentalists are nevertheless opposed to the second launch attempt. "We fear that the second launch will once again cause significant environmental damage," Jared Margolis, attorney for the environmental organization Center for Biological Diversity, told the AFP news agency. A lawsuit is pending against the FAA over the first Starship launch attempt. Several environmental organizations are accusing the agency of failing to correctly assess the environmental risks posed by the new giant rocket.
SpaceX boss Musk wants to take people to Mars with Starship in the future. The US space agency NASA wants to use it for its Artemis moon landing mission. However, it seems increasingly unlikely that this mission will take place on schedule in 2025.
Source: www.ntv.de
